History of the PennSTAR Program

In 1986, the University of Pennsylvania Health System recognized the need for a safe and rapid means of transporting medical patients to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Led by internationally prominent trauma surgeon C. William Schwab, MD, the PennSTAR flight program was formed with the start of PennSTAR 1 and began patient flights in the summer of 1988.

In 2013, the PennSTAR Flight Program celebrated its 25 year anniversary.

PennSTAR 2 was added as a second helicopter to PennSTAR 1 in 1996 and is based at Atlantic City Airport in New Jersey.